Valentin saueebbey



v .,sAUERBREY. Breach-Loadipg Fire-Arm, A

Patented Mar. 2,1880.

fniiilenim l! UWB N.FETERS.` PMOTD-LJTMDGRAPHER1 WASHINGTON. [lA CV UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE..

VALENTIN SAUERBREY, OF BASLE, SWITZERLAND.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 225,168, dated March 2, 1880.

Application tiled November 13, 1879. Patented in Belgium, December 4, 1877, in France, December 5, 1877, and in Geimany, December 22, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALENTIN SAUERBREY. of Basle, in the Republic of Switzerland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Breeeh-Loading Fire-Arms, for which l have obtained a brevet in the Kingdom of Belgium, dated December 4, 1877 a brevet inthe Republic of France, dated December 5,1877, and

a patent in the Empire of Germany, y dated 1o December 22, 187 7 and l do hereby declare that the following is a description of the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication.

This invention relates to that class of breechloading fire-arms having a cylindrical bolt-like breech sliding backward and forward lon gi' Y tudinally toward and from the barrel.

The invention consists in a novel and simple construction of such'breech, whereby facility zo and cheapness of construction are provided for, and great facility is afforded for the insertion of the mainsprin g and firing-pin; also, in a novel method of attaching the cartridgeshell extractor to said breech, whereby it is made 2 5 to lock together the principal pieces of which the said breech is composed; also, in a novel method of providing for the application of the pressure of the mainspring to the firing-pin within such breech. 3o lt further consists in a novel and simple construction of the breech-receiver, whereby convenient provision is afforded for firing two consecutive shots in rapid succession without the necessity of handling the second cartridge after the rst is fired. y

The invention is illustrated in the accompanyin g drawings, in which Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical and partly sectional view, ex hibiting my improved breech system. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken in the line m w, lookin g backward. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view taken in the line y y, looking forward. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken in the rear of the breech. 4 5 Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the breech, showing the cartridge-shell extractor detached. Fig. 6 is a side view of the breech-operating lever. Fig. 7 is a front view of the end of the ring-pin and the device for 5o confining the mainspring thereto. Fig. 8 is a side view of the device for stopping and permitting the entire withdrawal of the breech. Fig. Sis is a perspective view of the same. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a breech system, l illustrating my improvement in the breech-re- 5 5 ceiver. Fig. 10 is a transverse section corresponding with Fig. 9.

A is the breech-receiver, which is shown in Figs. 1 and 3, of a cylindrical construction, and having the barrel E screwed into its front end, substantiallylike that of other breech-loading fire-arms of this class, but which is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 as somewhat modified, as will be hereinafter explained.

Bis the tail-piece or false breech, through the medium of which the breech-receiver is secured to the stock.

a b c d indicate the breech, which presents externally the form of acylindrical bolt, having around its rear portion a collar, c, from 7o which projects the handle c2, by which it is manipulated in loading and firing. This breech, (shown most clearly in Fig. 5, but also shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,) though externally like the breech-piece of other fire-arms of this class, is differently constructed-viz., it consists of four distinct pieces, c b c d.

The front piece, a, of the breech is externally of cylindrical form and of the full size of the bolt. Its forward part is nearly solid, be- 8o ing only bored large enough for the passage of the forward part of the firing-pin D; but for the greater part of its length it is bored large enough for the reception of the spiral mainspring c, which surrounds the firing-pin, and in the extreme rear portion there is cut a left-handed female screw-thread.

The piece b is a hollow cylinder of an external diameter smaller than a, with a male screwthread at its front end to screw into the female 9o screw-thread in the rear end of c, and with an external screw-thread at its rear end. lts internal diameter is just large enough for the free passage of the ring-pin D.

The piece c, which is shown separately in Fig. 6, and which may be called the i lockingpiece,77 is a Ysleeve fitting loosely to the exterior of b, and has the collar c and handle c2 formed upon the exterior. In front of the said collar it is cylindrical, of an external diameter corroo responding with the piece a, and near its front end are the tenons c3 c3, which are locked in the usual manner into the breech-receiver, by turning the handle c2 after the breech has been pushed forward after loading. This locking-piecechas provided upon it the spiral-faced incline or tumbler o4 (see Fig. 6) for operation on the tail-piece D of the firing-pin, to draw back the said pin for cocking the gun. The

1o collar c has formed upon it a dovetail, c5, whichrslidesin a corresponding dovetail groove in the top of the false breech B, as the breech is moved backward and forward for loading.

The piece d, which constitutes the head of the breech, has its rear part bored to correspond with the bore of I) for the passage of the firing-pin D, and has in its front part a female screw-thread, to provide for its being screwed onto b after the insertion of the ir- 2o ing-pin through the latter. Ascrew, z', inserted through d and screwingI into b, prevents the former from turning on the latter, and keeps in line the slots b df, provided in b and d for the passage of the tail-piece Dl of the firing-pin.

The firing-piu D consists of a cylindrical pin, the front portion of which is of reduced size, and which, near the rear of its reduced 3o feathers f f, which are capable of passing through an oblong opening, g', in a collar, g, which, on being slipped back over the reduced front portion of the pin beyond the feathers j' f, and then turned on the neck behind the 3 5 said feathers, is made to form a bearing for the front end of the mainspring, the rear end of which bears against the front end of the piece b. A notch, g2, provided in the front face of the collar, and running transverse to the length 4o of the elongated opening g, to receive the feathers ff, prevents the accidental turning of -/^th'e collar, the mainspring pressing the collar toward the feathers and preventing the latter from leaving the notch.

F is the cartridge-shell extractor, consisting of a slightly-curved piece of springsteel, as shown in Fig. 5, with a hook, j, at its front end, and with two studs, 7s k2, on its inner face for attaching it to the breech. The front stud, 5o 7c', enters a hole, a, in the front piece, a, of

the breech, and the rear stud, k2, enters matching holes a2, which are provided in the said piece a and the piece b, so that by means of the stud k2 the extractor is made to serve the 5 5 additional purpose of securing the parts a b of the breeuh together by preventing the unscrewing of the one from the other. The extractor works in a longitudinal groove in the breech-receiver, and is so supported at its back 6o in the breech-receiver that it will draw the cartridge-shell from the barrel as it is drawn back with the breech, but that its hook will spring over the iiange of the cartridge-shell as it moves forward with the breech.

To put the parts of the breech, the main- Y spring, the f1ringpin, and the extractor together, first insert the ring-pin through the portion, is provided on opposite sides. withpiece b from the rear thereof; second, screw the head d on the piece b; third, insert and screw in the screw t; fourth, slip the mainspring over the front of the firing-pin back to the piece b,- fth, push the collar g over the.

front of the firing-pin beyond the feathers f and turn it one-quarter round; sixth, place the piece c over the piece b seventh, screw the front piece, a, onto b,- eighth, insert the studs of the extractor in the holes a a2. To

take out the mainspring it is only necessary,

means of the handle.

To prevent the breech from being drawn entirely out of the gun until desired to do so, and then affording facility for doing so, I arrange in one side of the false breech ortail piece B a stop-piece, Gr, the form and position of which are shown in Figs. 2, 4, 8, 8*, 9. This stop-piece is partly received Within a recess, l, in one side of the piece B, and it has secured firmly to it a pivot, m, which fits a hole bored wholly or partly through the piece B. This pivot has a flattened notch, m', at about the middle of its length for the reception of a spring, n, which is secured tothe bottom of the piece B by a screw, p, as shown in Fig. l. This spring serves two purposes, viz: first, by entering between the sides of the notch m', it retains the pivot in its place in the piece B, and, second, by pressing against the dat of the notch, as shown in Fig. l, it holds the stop in a nearly upright position against the back of the recess l, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, in `which position it projects above the piece B, and so that as the breech is drawn back the collar c comes against it, as shown in Fig. 4, and prevents any further backward movement.

To permit the taking out of the breech it is only necessary to push the stop-piece G forward and downward to the position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 8, in which the collar o' may pass over it, when the breech may be withdrawn entirely from the breech-receiver.

In reinserting the breech-piece the stop Gr will yield to the passage of the collar c', and will spring up behind the said collar as soon as the latter has passed by.

The breech-receiver A shown in Figs. 9 and l0 only differs from that shown in Figs. l and 3, and from others, in the opening p', for the ejection of the cartridge-shell more to the right than usual, and in having another opening, q, at the top for the insertion of the cartridges. This latter opening is made with an upward projection high enough to form a magazine IOO IOS

IIO

Fan,

of sufcient depth to receive one reserve cartridge after the gun has been loaded, the said reserve cartridge I, Fig. 10, then lying above the breech, where it is retained by a spring, fr, which is attached to the exterior of the breech-receiver, and which projects a little way into the magazine over the reserve car tridge.

When the rst cartridge has been red and the breech has been drawn back and the shell of that cartridge ejected through the opening 19', the second cartridge drops from the magazine q into the center of the breech-receiver, whence it is forced into the chamber or barrel by the next forward movement of the breech.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The breech composed of the two rigidlyattached cylindrical centrally-bored pieces d b, the former having a bore of larger diameter than that of the latter, theheadd, rmly secured to the said piece b, and the sleeve o, provided with the spiral-faced tumbler c4, litted to the said piece b, and conned between the piece a and head d, and carrying the lockingtenons c3 and the handle e2, in combination with the tiring-pin D, provided with the tailpiece D', and having the mainspring e coiled around its forward portion, said spring abutting at its front end against a collar on the pin, and its rear end against the end of piece b, the whole constructed and arranged substantially as herein described.

2. The ejector constructed with studs 7c 7a2, in combination with the two cylindrical portions a b of the breech, into both of which one of the said studs enters for the purpose of locking them together, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with the mainspring, of the tiring-pin D, constructed with feathers fj', and thc collar g, constructed with an elongated opening, g, and a groove, g2, at right angles to said opening, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

Li. The combination, with the sliding-bolt breech, of the breech-receiver having alateral discharge-opening for the ejection of the cartridge-shell and the separate top opening or magazine q, for receiving an extra cartridge, and provided with the spring r, for retaining the cartridge from escaping outwardly from said magazine, substantially as described.

' VALENTIN SAUERBREY.

Witnesses:

JoH. En. BRUsTLEIN, LoUIs MARX. 

